A Letter from Sir Muir Gray: How to improve your Environment
Dear Readers,
I am delighted to share with you the fourth theme of our Live Longer Better Plan:
Improving your environment.
Our bodies evolved to live in a world of hard work and scarce food, yet today we face the opposite: desk jobs, cars, computers, and easy access to calories. This mis-match between body and environment, both physical and social, increases the risks of disease and decline as we live longer and are greater than the effects of the normal biological process of ageing.
The physical environment is the space around us: our homes, streets, parks, and transport. Small steps such as building walking into your daily routine, seeking out green spaces, or adapting your home to support mobility can all help protect health and independence.
The social environment is the network of people, attitudes, and opportunities we live amongst. Staying connected with friends, joining community groups, and challenging negative stereotypes about ageing all play a vital role in strengthening wellbeing and resilience.
Together, our physical and social environments shape how well we live in later life. When they work against us - through pollution, long hours sitting at desks or screens, or the isolation that can come from working at home - the risk of ill health rises. But when we work with them and try to change them so they support us - by spending time in nature, walking in green spaces, connecting with others, and getting involved in our community - health, independence, and purpose can flourish.
Changing the environment also means changing attitudes. Too many still believe living longer inevitably brings frailty and dependence. In truth, people of any age can grow, contribute, and live well. Tackling ageism, as organisations like the Centre for Ageing Better are doing, is just as important as improving the spaces where we live, work, and connect.
By shaping environments, both physical and social, that encourage activity, connection, and purpose, you can support better health and independence at every stage of life and reach your nineties in good nick!
Live longer better: for yourself and for your community.
Sir Muir Gray
OLP Board Member
